Until I met and later married Jacqueline I had never considered monogamy as an option nor had I shown any inclination toward anything but predatory behaviour in respect of the women in my circle.

However: and that is a very big word, I suppose if you finally fall in love, then you must love to the exclusion of others.

But like the memory the following are symptamatic of experience

One Gift One Morning is entirly Jacqueline,

 Sappho, Salome  Etc  remind me of some but not all of of the others.

You can't love women in general without seeing humour in what they put us through.

 

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One Gift, One Morning.

 

Do you ever watch your lover while she’s sleeping,

The ever troubled world so soft and still,

With dew the calm caress of angels weeping,

The warmth of love abating winters chill.

 

You can’t compare distraction with enjoyment,

And you can’t compare enrapture with desire,

Where one may be the intellects employment,

The other is the all consuming fire.

 

It has struck me that in pain we might find pleasure,

It has struck me that beginnings must have end,

We want for fame and glory beyond measure,

While only needing comfort from a friend.

 

The summer morning shines within the season ,

The maudlin fears of midnight fade away,

The passing of the years has blessed my reason,

The love around me blesses worthless clay.

 

We break the door of passions hidden tower,

Cast down life’s burden wanting perfect rest,

While enmity and pride reduced our power,

We flame beside the brightest and the best.

 

If god is here will he provide salvation ,

Allay the fears my soul has not denied,

And safe within his church and his nation,

Who cares if priest or prelate may have lied.

 

So back to early mornings, love and leaving,

To summer daybreaks dewy soft and bright,

Rejoicing in a world that’s still believing,

Rejoicing in the future and the light.

 

I owned the mystic storming of the rapture,

I’ve felt the gloried pain of perfect love,

And god with all his wisdom caused my capture,

A hawk who’s perfect jailer is the dove.

 

I found my grail my hope and holy chalice ,

My sacrament and anchor in the rock,

The breath of life to set me free from malice,

My buttress and defender from the shock

 

So even when the winds are sharp and chilling,

The gall they make you drink is labelled wine,

My soul despite the pain will still be willing,

So long as home and haven are still mine.

 

I watch my only lover while she’s sleeping,

Full knowing that in her I have my heart,

Full knowing that alone she has my keeping,

And naught but death may force we two apart.

 

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Sappho, Salome and Similar Sisters

 

Rambunctious women everywhere,

The brash the bold the fearsome fair,

The dominatrix with her whip,

The vamp with silk and satin slip.

 

You can’t go far in this good land,

Before you meet their motley band,

From childhood they have filled my days,

But I have never learned their ways,

 

My mother, grandma, cousins aunts,

Would promulgate their raves and rants,

I waited baited in their tide,

And stirred the fire that lit their pride.

 

That kind of woman thrilled my soul;

The flaming branch the burning coal,

And when they seared me to the core,

Still blistered I came back for more.

 

I can’t explain it nor I should,

In essence they have done me good,

A masochist that may be true,

But not just one among the few.

 

This womankind have paved my way,

Enthusing each and every day,

Some only memory, one to touch,

The poisoned cup and golden crutch

 

To argue with them clouds the mind,

Their reason neither clear nor kind,

A rationale not made to please,

Designed to force you to your knees.

 

But still as certain and as sure,

We never seek to find the cure,

Instead we dance inside the flame,

And lose the will to portion blame.

 

I loved it, love it, binding free,

For these have made the whole of me,

Expressions fail as words take flight,

For they have been my day and night.

 

And now these women freed from grace,

Are filling almost every space,

They even now have changed the law

So feel these cunning vixens paw.

 

For now to old to force a change,

With no great power to rearrange,

Emasculation close at hand,

Rambunctious women rule the land.

ICG